Swedish Order of Freemasons

The Swedish Order of Freemasons (Swedish: Svenska Frimurare Orden) is a Swedish fraternal order of freemasonry, founded in 1735 as the oldest still active Swedish fraternal order. It is the native Swedish manifestation of Swedish Rite Freemasonry, recognised by the United Grand Lodge of England as a Regular Masonic jurisdictions. The total membership is 16,500.[1]

Organisation

The members are divided in 43 St John's (Craft) lodges (degrees I-III), 23 St Andrew's lodges for degrees IV-VI, and 7 Chapters for degrees VII-X. There is also a lodge of research and a stewards' lodge. Additionally 63 recognised "fraternal societies" provide masonic fellowship in rural communities considered too small to support a working lodge.

In addition there are 1,300 members in Finland in 7 St John's lodges, 2 St Andrew's lodges, and 1 Grand Chapter. While Finland has also a native Grand Lodge following American rite, the overlap of geographical jurisdictions has been agreed upon for decades and the two Grand Lodges are in perfect amity.[2][3]

Membership

As with all Swedish Rite constitutions, all members must be Christian men. Visitors of any religion from recognised foreign jurisdictions (including Swedish freemasons of the Swedish District Grand Lodge of the Grand Lodge of Finland) may attend lodge meetings, but visitors attending the chapter degrees (from grade VII onwards) must be recognised as Christians, or sign a statement asserting that they are Christians.[3][4][5]

There is a close relationship with the Lutheran Church of Sweden (Swedish: Svenska kyrkan), which was until 2000 the established national church of Sweden, and remains the largest religious denomination. Priests and bishops of the Church of Sweden have a special role within the Swedish Rite of Freemasonry, particularly in grade VII and above.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Figures quoted (in English) at the Swedish Grand Lodge website.
  2. ↑ ÖVERENSKOMMELSE MELLAN SVENSKA FRIMURARE ORDEN OCH STORLOGEN FÖR FRIA OCH ANTAGNA MURARE I FINLAND. July 1949. Retrieved 2015-12-20. (in Swedish)
  3. 1 2 Ahtokari, Reijo (2015) Milstolpar på den finländska frimurarvandringen. Föreningsbandet 4/2015. Pp. 10–11. Retrieved 2015-12-20. (in Swedish)
  4. ↑ Swedish Order of Freemasons
  5. ↑ Den första under Storlogen i Finland arbetande logen i Sverige invigd. Föreningsbandet 1/2014. Retrieved 2015-12-20. (in Swedish)
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